Café de Nuit

Instead of the ancient dead, Torquemeda may very well be an Inquisitor (Forgotten Realms undead which is pretty much exactly like what its name sounds like).

I like the idea of getting the old thread going again. There's still plenty of ground to be covered.

Right now I'm reading the King in Yellow, which was originally published in 1895. Perhaps a writeup for the eponymous fictional play that drives people mad is in order (as well as perhaps the Yellow Sign mythos it spawned?)

Strange leaflets have been blowing through the streets of London proclaiming a special one night event of the performance of The King in Yellow. It soon becomes apparent that everyone is intending on seeing this play but of course there are only limited seats.

The night of the performance not only is the theater packed, but so are the streets outside. As the play begins the audience starts to go mad. Soon they begin rushing out into the crowded streets which leads to a horrible riot....

Intrepid wrote:

Nukdai wrote:sorry I'm a history buff and found the previous threads enthralling. Could the collective genius from the prior postings do one more? Lizzie Borden trial was in 1892. Please help. Should Lizzie the spinster be the villian or should folklore prevail as her parents were abusive sadists

A couple of months ago, I saw a documentary on psychotic disorders, and the main researcher was a doctor who had 6 murderers in his family history, and was a direct descendent of the Borden linage. He found that psychotic disorders were caused by a dysfunction of the frontal lobe of the brain, and he had the same dysfunction in his brain. Why wasn’t he psychotic? While poor Lizzie’s parents were Sadists, his own parents were loving and supportive.

Serial killer/ghoullike creature:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes

Serial killer/black widow-like creature:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Gunness

Werewolf of course:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrus_Gonsalvus

Crusading secret monastic order for the good ( or the bad )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teutonic_Knights

Shadow behind the throne, any intelligent undead:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu

Any undead or even death knight variety bound to his island of exile:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon#E ... int_Helena

An undead mastermind of the north, maybe still an enemy of his former emperor Napoleon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_XIV_John_of_Sweden

Most influential noble European family ever:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Oldenburg

Second most powerful noble family and when you factor in the wars between the two you could have a clandestine war lasting centuries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Hohenzollern

what about the puppetmasters puppets? (you know from the movie puppetmaster?)

jules wrote:what about the puppetmasters puppets? (you know from the movie puppetmaster?)

I don't believe that Andre Toulon is an actual historical figure (although my Research-Fu may simply be insufficient) but between his fictional ties with both historic traditions of showmanship and alchemical and goetic references...I think he'd fit right in with just a bit of tweaking.

IMHO-while the Puppet Master series was decent schlock (and I like schlock ) I think the best of the series(also truest and most atmospheric as regards MOtRD source material) was Puppet Master III. The references to 'Egyptian Studies in the Black Arts' alchemical nods and theories of 'Soul Transference' make PM III good gaming material...The fact that PM III shows Toulon as a nominal Hero using his abilities against the Nazis(and beginning his Slide Into the Abyss as a result) only sweeten the pot!

So to move Toulon into a more historical setting we would need an Enemy (either a society or an individual) wicked enough to tempt a scholar with an addiction to Forbidden Secrets-but in most respects a kindly and decent man-into a starting a path of vengeance which can only end in the protagonist becoming as evil as those he once opposed...Possibly dragging the PCs with him if they originally sided with Toulon early on against said Enemy?

Unless...you wish to portray Toulon as twisted and shortsighted, a dabbler in Dark Power yet redeemable still? By the end of PM III he is very much so, but by PM I (later in time as III is a Prequel) Toulon is truly damned.

Either way Jules, I like your choice.

anybody ever do Geronimo?

By 1890 Geronimo had been in prison some and 80 years old. As a hunter most of his life he is proficient with archaic weapons as well as the Winchester model 1873 and a Colt single action revolver. Dread possibilities. Perhaps haunted his last days by the ghosts of his massacred people

how would you do the medusa from Grecian myth?

Using Pathfinder rules I would use base line Medusa stats with six levels in cleric (she started out as a high priestess of Athena). Then add either 4 advancements from the Bestiary or three mythic tiers

what about her sisters though?

Stheno and Euryale both were immortal and more powerful than Medusa. A twist away from myth would be to make them human clerics or priestesses of the ancient snake religions and their hair would be nothing more than headdresses myth also mentions brass hands. Perhaps these were actually gauntlets for handling snakes. As for turning people into stone maybe poison

ok, how about pinochio?

jules wrote:ok, how about pinochio?

Maligno says "I'm standing right here!"

Maligno was one of my favorites! I remember playing the intro adventure way back in 2nd edition. Classic